A day after Georgia football was ranked preseason No. 1 in another major poll, Kirby Smart didn’t sound like the coach who presides over a roster that nearly all of his counterparts would take in an instant.

“I feel like we’ve got less depth than we’ve ever had,” Smart said. “That’s kind of a common theme talking to other coaches I talk to. I call it the deterioration of football because every year we’ve been here, I feel like we’ve had more players capable of going in and playing winning football. Every year that goes down and we’ve got to keep working to increase that number.”

Georgia has gone 42-2 the last three seasons with a pair of national championships in 2021 and 2022.

They are ranked No. 1 in the US LMB Coaches Poll and the Associated Press poll of media members which linebacker Jalon Walker sounded unfazed by.

“We come out here to play football, that’s other people’s opinions,” Walker said. “It came up as a notification on my phone. It’s just another notification to me.”

Smart spoke Tuesday, three days after the Bulldogs went through their first scrimmage.

“We did not have a lot of enthusiasm,” Smart said. “Didn’t play to the level that I think we need to play to, but the good thing is they’ve got another chance this Saturday, really every day to go out and practice.”

Smart said the depth issues on his team aren’t necessarily because of players lost to the transfer portal although he said that has impacted continuity with those who have been in the program for longer. He said perhaps depth is affected by high schools having less opportunity to develop players because of scheduling.

“It’s a trickle up effect,” Smart said.

Smart wouldn’t publicly identify which areas of depth he’s most concerned with when asked specifically, but did offer at a different time: “There’s not the depth around Carson (Beck) in the skill positions that there’s been in the past. It probably puts more pressure on him. He probably feels like he’s got to be perfect. He feels like he’s got to make the right decision and protection check.”

Projected starting center Jared Wilson has been limited this preseason due to Achilles tendonitis.

One area that Georgia is deeper than it was a year ago is running back where the Bulldogs had to rely heavily on walk-on Cash Jones and turned to wide receiver Dillon Bell at running back.

Georgia has proven SEC running back Trevor Etienne from Florida leading the group. Smart was asked if he would be available for the Aug. 31 opener against Clemson and didn’t address his availability after his spring arrest for DUI (since dismissed) and reckless driving (plead no contest).

The Bulldogs also have Branson Robinson, Roderick Robinson and freshmen Nate Frazier, Chauncey Bowens and Dwight Phillips

“There’s a bunch of guys in that room doing a great job,” Smart said.

Roderick Robinson, though, is dealing with a toe injury, Smart said.

“It's not as much quality depth that I'm used to,” Smart said, “but we probably have more than a lot of people.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Kirby Smart: Less depth than ever for No. 1 Georgia football